I am not crazy about the idea of converting Valley freeway HOV lanes into HOT or high-occupancy toll lanes for solo drivers. (Read the story here.)

For starters, I do not appreciate the dangling carrot that this will ease traffic congestion. If easing traffic congestion was a concern, the state would have opened the HOV lanes a long time ago. Be honest! This is only about generating revenue, which the state sorely needs.

So on that point:

HOV lanes were built to help reduce emissions and clean the air with the incentive that motorists would reach their destinations faster. If I were a carpooler, I would be perturbed for doing the right thing. Because if this idea comes to pass, carpoolers can expect their commutes to get longer.

Granted, the recession has altered spending habits, which has negatively affected sales-tax revenues for transportation projects. But if tolls are a solution, why not gauge public support for building future projects as tolls? Putting a toll on existing infrastructure is a tax on top of a tax on top of a tax. When will it end?

Then there is the expensive bureaucracy. The Maricopa Association of Governments plans to spend half-a-million dollars so a firm can study the feasibility of this idea. You can bet the firm will come back with a resounding yes when the potential for more profit is involved. And with the chosen freeway having to undergo toll-related construction, it could be months, if not longer, before the state sees financial benefit.

If - and that is a big IF - the state wants to get away from conventional funding mechanisms and generate transportation dollars, it should take the advice of Jeff Powell, a letter writer from Phoenix. He says the state should skip the $500,000 middle man and include an annual fee for HOT lanes on vehicle registration forms. Motorists can check the box every time they register their car and receive a special tag for their license plates that signifies payment.

Or better yet, set up a system at MVD offices now so motorists can get their special tag and start using HOT lanes today. On a trial basis, of course. If the state finds at the end of the trial period that this was not the brilliant idea it thought it was, it can end it. With no harm, no foul to existing infrastructure.

"Some pedestrians simply dart across Arizona Avenue rather than walk the extra distance to a signalized intersection," said Mike Mah, Chandler transportation engineer. "With multiple midblock crossings, we think they'll be more likely to walk the short distance to these safer, well-marked crossings."

Arizona Avenue, the main thoroughfare of downtown Chandler, is notorious for jaywalking. The new crosswalks are part of a recent street project that narrowed Arizona Avenue to make the area more pedestrian-friendly. Underground pavement lights flash when activated, making the crosswalks and pedestrians more visible to motorists, especially at night.

With the opening of Chandler City Hall and new businesses coming to town, pedestrians may be inclined to cut through traffic to reach their destinations. The crosswalks aim to make the area safer for them. And for motorists, too.

It started with a sign here and a sign there, telling residents and visitors that Chandler had just won the 2010 All-America City award.

The signs were posted at entry points to the city, a proud and friendly way to inform motorists that they were not only entering Chandler, they were entering one of 10 communities in the U.S. to win the 2010 All-America City award this summer.

The award is a big deal for municipalities. Sort of the Oscar for cities and towns, it symbolizes success in identifying and overcoming municipal challenges. Chandler won for working to curb underage drinking, providing medical attention to uninsured children, and maximizing human and natural resources.

I do not begrudge the city this time to bask in the municipal limelight. The city worked hard through partnerships with ICAN and medical providers to make Chandler a safer place for children and to use taxpayer dollars in the most efficient manner.

Chandler was also mindful of taxpayer dollars when it learned it was a finalist and sent a delegation of city employees and community members to Missouri to present their projects to judges. Rather than raid the General Fund, the city raised money to help offset costs for the trip and a community celebration.

As soon as Chandler was announced a winner on the evening of June 18, the city had the All-America City logo on its website. Shortly thereafter, city employees had the logo as part of their signature on e-mails.

That was no surprise. Phoenix won the award in 2009 and city employees have the logo on their e-mails. The only thing that separates one logo from the other is the year. But once an All-America City, always an All-America City. That is a point Chandler is playing up.

The city has erected more signs that carry the logo, including posters at bus stops and on decorative markers at more entry points. It has become comical almost at how often I see the logo. But I had not given a literal LOL until I saw the logo on the star atop the Tumbleweed Tree in downtown Chandler.

During a recent visit to City Hall, I asked Chandler's Communications and Public Affairs Director Nachie Marquez about all of the logos. She said it was great that I had noticed them. How could I not? I joked that I might wake up one day to find the logo tattooed somewhere on my body. She joked back, saying if I stay in Chandler long enough, I just might.

It turns out the logos I have seen are only the beginning. The city has the logo on the plaque outside of the new City Hall. When new shirts were ordered for employees who work in the field, the city added the logo to the sleeve. When employees need to order new business cards, they will have the option to add the logo. When new floor mats come in, they will carry the logo. When the city decorated the downtown area for recent celebrations, it hung banners that had the logo.

After hearing all of this, I could not resist asking Marquez whether Chandler would name a street All-America City as Tempe did when it won the award a couple of decades ago. She said there have been talks about it and, now that I had mentioned it, the talks will have to resume.

Chandler received a lot of attention recently for posting signs in new City Hall restrooms advising users not to drink the water in urinals and toilets, which are filled with gray water.

As if that were not eco-friendly enough, the city also has dual-flush toilets to extend the use of gray water. Up for liquid waste. Down for solid waste. The toilets also have a green coating to guard against germs. (I predict many users will still use their shoe).

The new building's energy efficiency is one of its many attractions. Chandler aims to be a better steward of the environment and reduce energy costs with this state-of-the-art, LEED-aspiring City Hall.

Chandler also offers residents water-saving incentives so that they, too, can be good stewards of the environment. Incentives include reimbursements for installing smart irrigation controllers and free home water audits, which save 607 gallons of water for every dollar the city spends.

But not all incentives are cost-effective. The city recently stopped offering residents rebates for water-wise washing machines. Though the $100 rebates were popular with residents, the incentive saved only 83 gallons of water for every dollar the city spent. The city also does not offer residents rebates for installing dual-flush toilets because the estimated savings would not justify the cost.

So why does the city have them? I guess every little bit of water conservation helps.

Some would argue that government should not dole out taxpayer dollars to encourage said taxpayers to adopt a practice, such as eco-friendliness. If the savings were truly great, residents would adopt them without an incentive from government.

One of the most important decisions the Chandler City Council will make in 2011 is hiring a permanent city manager. So when The Republic's Southeast Valley Editorial Board met yesterday with Chandler Mayor-elect Jay Tibshraeny (pictured here), who takes office in January, it asked whether the city will tap the community for input.

Tibshraeny said that is something the council can talk about when it meets at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow to choose a search firm and set the direction the firm should take. He called me today to talk more about it.

Even though the City Council will make the final decision on who gets hired, the community should have opportunities to say what qualities it would like to see in the next city manager.

Chandler is a different place than it was in 2004 when it hired Mark Pentz for the spot. Residential and business growth has slowed and sales-tax revenues have dropped.

Chandler fared better than many of its municipal counterparts in the Great Recession, thanks to Pentz, but the city manager also got into unnecessary tiffs with employee union groups.

Also, Pentz was fired in 2006 when the majority of a lame-duck council found his attitude too abrasive. He was later rehired by a new council. He retired this summer.

Similar drama played out in Scottsdale, which has gone through a couple of city managers in recent years.

Chandler will want to maintain a lot of what Pentz did during his time with the city but it should also ask where it sees itself in 10, 20, 50 years and what type of manager can get it there.

It is not an easy job. A city manager works at the pleasure of the council. But the council answers to residents, who deserve a say in the process.

The only part of the boneheaded fireworks law that could save us from noise, errant sparks and potential fires is the part that allows municipalities to restrict or ban the use within their jurisdictions.

Many municipalities are wisely banning fireworks use. Some also are regulating their sale. As one Valley fire marshal said, it does not make sense to teach children to not play with matches and lighters and then allow them to use fireworks.

The law requires purchasers to be 16 or older but there is no minimum age to use fireworks. So a 16-year-old can purchase the fireworks, then hand them to his 10-year-old brother and be within the law.

It's true that some people already shoot off fireworks. But that's a flimsy argument to allow their widespread use.

To appreciate the damage fireworks can cause, you only have to look at the two Scottsdale boys who in May burned two houses while playing with the type of fireworks that became legal Dec. 1.

A dog was killed in the blaze, and firefighters estimated it caused more than $100,000 in damage to the houses.

So much for the argument that individuals should be allowed to use fireworks on their private properties, as Gilbert will permit. Fires do not stop at property lines.

In a compromise, Mesa will allow consumer use if sellers voluntarily restrict the sale to the weeks before July 4 and New Year's. I predict buyers will stock up during those weeks to use the fireworks year-round.

Chandler, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe had the right idea by implementing bans. Not that our neighborhoods will be free of violators. But I have faith more people who will obey the ban than not.

Fireworks and inexperienced users do not mix. It is a shame that Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, did not grasp that when he crafted the bill. It is a shame that Gov. Jan Brewer did not recognize that when she signed the bill into law.

Repealing the law would be ideal. Until then, municipalities have little choice but to ban the use of fireworks within their borders.

Join thousands of azcentral.com fans on Facebook and get the day's most popular and talked-about Valley news, sports, entertainment and more - right in your newsfeed. You'll see what others are saying about the hot topics of the day.